YRE International Competition
What is IT?
Empowering young people worldwide to investigate, report, and take action on environmental issues
Young Reporters for the Environment holds an annual International Competition for young people aged 11–25 involved in the programme.
The competition invites Young Reporters to investigate environmental issues, propose solutions, and share their stories through different communication and journalistic formats with local and international audiences.
Explore inspiring entries from Young Reporters around the world in the YRE Virtual Gallery.
YRE International Competition 2026–2027 opening soon.
Want to take part? Young Reporters usually participate through their country’s YRE National Offices.
If YRE does not have a National Operator in your country, your school can still participate through the FEE International Schools initiative.
‘Wonder or warning?’
3rd place YRE International Competition 2024-2025 - Photo Category One Take Photo
Who can participate and How?
The Young Reporters for the Environment International Competition is open to those aged 11-25 participating as individuals or groups of young people through their school, college, university, Scout Group, or youth group.
The YRE programme is run by FEE's national member organisation, who runs the programme and/or National Competition. All the entries to the YRE International Competition must first be submitted through the National Competition in each YRE member country.
Young Reporters may submit more than one type of submission to different media categories.
Participant eligibility:
Young people aged 11-25 participating in the YRE programme through their schools, universities, youth groups.
Young people enrolled in the Twinning international collaboration.
Students from FEE International Schools
Scouts Groups (from countries where FEE has no national member)
UNESCO Associated Schools Network (ASPnet)
Please note:
All young reporters must first submit their entry to their national/ network competition and be selected as the first-place winner before being submitted to the International Competition by National Operators.
Young Reporters may submit more than one type of submission to different media categories.
Belgium - Video | 15 - 18 years old 2023-2024
Age Categories
The YRE International Competition has three age groups:
11-14 years
15-18 years
19-25 years
Your category is based on your age at the submission deadline.
For group projects, the category is determined by the oldest team member’s age.
For International Schools or Scout Groups without a National Operator, the international deadline applies.
Photo entries (One Take Photo and Staged Campaign Photo) are judged in one combined category (11–25 years).
Your category is based on your age at the submission deadline.
For group projects, the category is determined by the oldest team member’s age.
For International Schools or Scout Groups without a National Operator, the international deadline applies.
Photo entries (One Take Photo and Staged Campaign Photo) are judged in one combined category (11–25 years).
Competition assessment criteria
If you’re interested in learning more about how submissions are assessed, click the button below to find out more about the media category assessment criteria.
RESOURCES
Here are various resources made to support young reporters and educators during the different competition cycles.
Competition Categories
These are the categories for the competition. To read more about the specific requirements, explore the YRE International Competition 2026-2027 page.
Photo Category
The photo category is divided into three sub-categories:
One Take Photo
Staged Campaign Photo
Photo Story (3-5 photos)
Video Category
The video category consists of the following two sub-categories:
Long-form Reporting [max 3 mins] (documentary, news report on Youtube or Vimeo)
Short-form Campaign (TikTok, Youtube Shorts, Instagram Reels)
Twinning Category
Can be in form of Article or Video but need to happen between two contexts.
More information about Twinning here.
Discover the awarded entries of the 2025-2026 International Competition
Discover the awarded entries of the 2024-2025 International Competition
YRE International Jury
Each year, the YRE International Jury brings together storytellers, experts, changemakers, and youth ambassadors from around the world to review shortlisted entries and celebrate outstanding environmental journalism.
The story
behind the competition
Get to know more about the YRE International Competition over the years.
Check out previous formats, best stories and winners!
Feeling even more curious? Check out the history of the Young Reporters for the Environment (YRE) programme.
